A41) Muslims Losing Their Faith in Islam and Joining the Global Interfaith Movement, (S. Dobbs, 1998).
(This links to words No's A10, A11, A20, A21, A22, A23, A25, A40 and C6).
The following came into my mind as a visual impression in 1998. I do not normally perceive thoughts in this way and felt this impression to have been from the Holy Spirit. It started almost as a question which was then followed by an answer.
I perceived the three main monotheistic religions of the world, Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Although each differs they do have this in common, they all believe that there is only one God and only one way to God. They all oppose the views contained in Hinduism, Buddhism, The New Age and many other religions. These other religions believe that God has many faces and that there are many ways to God and the afterlife. I saw that it will therefore be easier for these other religions to fit in with the antichrists one world religion in the end times than for the three monotheistic religions.
I already knew from scripture that in the very end times "all who dwell on the earth will worship him", (the antichrist), Rev 13:8. The question that I felt the Holy Spirit was impressing upon me was "how will it be that Islam will join together with all the other peoples and religions of the world and worship the antichrist in unity with them?" As I thought about this question for a moment it seemed to me extremely unlikely that Muslims would join in with this and yet scripture tells us that the whole earth will worship the beast.
I knew from the bible that Christians will either abandon the faith or stand firm and refuse to worship the beast. I guessed that some Jews would compromise their faith but that their religion would finally accept that Jesus was the Messiah and become Christian and likewise stand firm. But I could not see how Islam fitted into the picture. Some Muslims, even many, may get saved but Islam is not going to disappear, nor could it stand with Christians in resisting the antichrist since they do not accept that Jesus is Lord. It seemed equally unlikely that they would be willing to unite with other religions though, especially not religions like Buddhism and Hinduism which so openly contradict Islam.
[I've inserted this note here in brackets in March 2006 as many people are now prophesying that the antichrist will be a Muslim leader and that the beasts one world religion will therefore be Islam. God has shown me that this is not the case and that the beasts religion will not be Islam. Logical analysis, it seems to me, also supports that prophetic insight. There seems very little chance of the entire population of the world voluntarily converting to Islam. Religious unity and a one world religion is surely therefore unlikely to come to pass that way. There also seems almost no chance at all of the whole world being overrun militarily by the Islamic nations. They don't have enough military might. Most don't even have nuclear weapons and if they did acquire them how would they overcome the nuclear deterrent of the Western World, Russia and China combined? Islam surely can't force the rest of the world to convert to Islam. More recently Islamic terrorism has increased. This has caused much distress and fear in the world but Islam has become increasingly unpopular amongst non Muslims as a result. Neither can such terrorism force people to convert to Islam. It has in fact made conversions even less likely in the non Islamic world. A religion that appears to be promoting suicide and the murder of innocents is not likely to be viewed by others as the truth. It is what we as Christians would call "a bad witness", (that’s an understatement). Such terrorism seems to have also strengthened the resolve of the Western nations to resist Islam rather than cause our governments to give way to it. The reaction of the U.S.A to the twin towers being blown up on 9:11,for example, has been the invasion of two Islamic nations - Afghanistan and Iraq. In many ways this terrorism has strengthened the arm of the Western World. There is now even more resolve to stop Iran acquiring a nuclear capability. It has even become acceptable amongst many for the U.S.A to talk in terms of pre-emptive strikes against Muslim nations if they are seen as a threat to its own national security. The U.S has even said it is now willing to use pre-emptive nuclear strikes. Surely it is now even less likely that Islam will be accepted as the single one world religion? Would it not therefore be rather foolish of Satan, (the arch deceiver of mankind), to choose to make Islam his beast empire's religion? Even looking at these things rationally surely it is now even less likely that the antichrists religion will be Islam than it was eight years ago when the Lord first spoke to me concerning this issue?]
Back in 1998 as I pondered that question, of how is it that Islam will ultimately join in with other religions in worshipping the antichrist/ beast , I was perplexed. Islam is a very solid religion with strong fixed doctrines that are clearly laid out in the Koran. It opposes all other religions and beliefs claiming the only way to paradise is to follow the Islamic Law and way of life. As 2 Thess 2:4 states though the antichrist "opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God". And Rev 13:15 states that the false prophet will "causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast" . I could not see how Islam could move into such a compromised position that it would join with other religions in worshipping the antichrist. It was as if the Lord was bringing to my attention this anomaly.
Furthermore Rev 13:15 states that the false prophet "causes as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed". As we know Islam strongly prohibits the worship of images. They will not even worship images of God or saints as some Christians mistakenly do. Of myself I couldn't see how Islam fitted into the end times and the global worship of the beast. I had no answer to that question.
God's Spirit then showed me the answer. Again this came in the form of a visual impression. I saw, back in 1998, that the Islamic religion was going to fall into a state of humiliation in the world, that many Muslims were going to lose confidence and much of their faith in Allah as a result. With their faith in this weakened state many will then be more open to the gospel. The others who remain Muslim will be more willing to compromise their Islamic beliefs, give way on doctrinal issues and even take on board views that may contradict the original interpretation of the Koran. The majority of remaining Muslims will, in this weakened state*, be willing to join in unity with the other religions of the world and become part of a one world religion, going down a road that will ultimately lead to them submitting to and worshipping the antichrist.
*No doubt other forms of pressure, besides the introduction of the mark of the beast, will also encourage Muslims to go down this route.
(All scriptures have been taken from the N.K.J version of the bible.)
S. Dobbs. Typed up in March 2006.